Thursday, November 29, 2012

Well it's about time I updated here. Geesh. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday ! Since I haven't been at the torch in so long I finally got to spend a little time there yesterday. Only about an hour but I had a whole bunch of fun in that hour ! :) I tried something new to me - a blown ornament. I have been researching this type glassy fun for several weeks now and there are a number of ways to do it. I decided to go for it using what I have on hand - soft glass (104 coe), frit and a hollow mandrel. Since this was the first time doing such a thing, I did have to melt it down and blow it out several times before I was able to get the round shape. I was surprised I didn't close off the air bubble doing that so many times. Still, in the end, it turned out and I still consider it my very first try. Pictured below is that ornament. I borrowed a cap from an ornament already on the tree so I'll have to find a replacement. No biggie. :) Remember to click on the photo to get a bigger and better view.

Not too bad I think. I'm going to play some more today and hope for the best. I have 3 mandrels prepped and ready to go. I did place an order for glaskoben to do it yet another way. I'll get into that more when that arrives and I've had a chance to use it. Hopefully before Christmas. :)

I did make a few other beads as well. Just to get back in the swing of things since it's been so long I actually made beads. I used some glass & shards I've had for a couple years and it's just been sitting. Figured it was time to do something with some of it and these are the results.

Thanks so much for coming by ! I hope you come back again sometime soon. I'll be back as usual now.

Monday, November 19, 2012

It's been a very busy week this past week with more coming ! lol ! I have no new beads or jewelry to show this posting. It's a shame really since it's the perfect time of year for me but with the holidays coming there's so much more that has to be done first. So, that said, I hope to get back to the torch after Thanksgiving and have some pretties to show then. In the meantime I hope you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving !

Monday, November 12, 2012

Yes, the holidays are fast approaching with Thanksgiving only 11 days away ! Wow ! I don't know why but it seems like it came really early this year. Oh well, it is what it is as the saying goes. And of course with Thanksgiving on the horizon, Christmas is only a short 6 full weeks away. Whew. Are any of us ready for that ?? I'm getting there. This year, we will have gifts to put under the tree with family coming in for the holiday for a change. It will be so much fun ! I am so excited ! :)At the torch last time, I decided it was time to make some blown beads again with the idea in mind to make a few ornaments with them. The bigger blown beads make a perfect size to hang on a tree or from a light fixture or wherever you can think of to hang one for fun Christmas decorating. The blown beads are fun to make on their own of course and making them into ornaments was just one more fun way to use them. Pictured below are the ornaments. Simple, easy to make and just plain fun to do ! Just take some wire, I used 22 gauge silver coated copper wire, make a wrapped loop at one end. This will be the end you add the hook to hang it with. Once you have the loop done, just add whatever elements you want to add. As you can see from the photo, I added bead caps, Swarovski crystals, lampwork beads and silver plated beads. I then made another wrapped loop and added more elements to that loop with jumprings. I used seed beads, crystals and lampwork beads. Simple and fun to do ! I'm going to add some glitter to the blown beads as well. Maybe add names to them ? Not sure yet. I may still make more but for now, these are it.

This past week just flew by actually. I didn't realize it had been so long I posted. LOTS going on. And it's been over a week now I was at the torch so hopefully more torch time in the coming week.

That's all for now. Thanks so much for coming by ! I hope you come back again soon ! Please feel free to comment. I love to read what you have to say. :)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Yes, it's been one of those weeks where the motivaton just didn't make itself known. Probably has to do with fighting off the sniffles and it being a losing battle. lol ! Still, I WANT to be at the torch but figure with no motivation, it would be a waste of time and glass. So I just took the week off and have pretty much done, nothing. Nothing creative anyway. I know this happens to everyone at times. Sometimes it can last a VERY long time but in my case, now, it's just the sniffles keeping me down. :( I'll get over it sooner than later. lol ! Since the last time I was at the torch was Sunday, I did manage to make a few things which I will show at a later date. In the meantime, I've posted a couple photo's of a couple of temporary bell flower and leaves bouquets. Temporary because I just needed someplace to put all these bell flowers. :) They will all be sorted out and put in pretty little bouquets with other flowers I've been working on and will be given as gifts. I still have alot of work to do before they are finished. I think they're going to be so pretty though and I hope the receivers will love them. This bell flower press is such a joy to play with and make these flowers ! I've also been trying different things with the press but those little experiments need work before I can show them. lol ! Right now, I just need to concentrate on the gifts ! lol !

Since it has been such a slow week, that's going to be all for this post. I hope you come back again soon because I will have more new things to show ! :) Thanks so much for coming by ! :)